Release Notes

RomanM

Release Notes 2.8.1

Release 2.8.1 has been implemented successfully. The Dynamic Computing Services Team is pleased to inform you that the features listed below are now available:

These are the benefits of Release 2.8.1:

The basis for Hybrid Cloud solutions - VMware vCloud Connector
Enhanced networking feature for optimised bandwidth management
Enhanced MS SQL licensing feature
VMware vCloud Director upgrade

The basis for Hybrid Cloud Solutions - VMware vCloud Connector

The Dynamic Computing Services Team enhanced the Public Template catalogue with the VMware vCloud Connector node template.

VMware vCloud Connector links your own VMware based infrastructure with the Dynamic Computing Services, so you can manage both environments as a single hybrid cloud and transfer workloads back and forth.

Using the same vSphere client that you use today, you can now view, copy and operate on manage workloads, including virtual machines, vApps and templates across internal data center centres and the Dynamic Computing services. From the workloads view, you can view and manage virtual machines and vApps. From the catalogues view, you can view and manage your templates.

High-level overview:

½: Provisioning of VMs local or in the cloud

¾: Move VMs from local to Dynamic Computing Services and vice versa

5: Catalogue Sync (Advanced vCloud Connector License required)

Simple and easy – install the vCloud Connector server and the vCloud Connector node in your local environment. Install the vCloud Connector node in your DCS environment. After configuring the components; your Hybrid Cloud solution is ready for use.

To learn more about the solution please see the following link:

http://www.vmware.com/products/vcloud-connector

For further technical details please read the official installation and configuration guide from VMware:

http://pubs.vmware.com/hybridcloud-27/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vCloudConnector_27_InstallConfigure.pdf

Enhanced networking feature for optimised bandwidth management

You could order one internet connectivity with multiple IP addresses per Dynamic Data Center before this release. All IP addresses have shared the ordered bandwidth of this connection. New with this release, you are able to create several bandwidth pools per connection and assign IP addresses to these pools. This allows you to guarantee a fixed network bandwidth for different services and avoid time outs for critical services.

Enhanced MS SQL licensing feature

Before this release, we provided the possibility to order MS SQL licences in the DCS self-service portal. We introduced this feature as a result of Microsoft’s licence terms that our partners have not been allowed to use their own MS SQL licences. We enhanced this feature with this release and you will get automatic access to an additional template catalogue that includes the images (ISO files) for which you have ordered the licences.

VMware vCloud Director upgrade

The vCloud Director has been upgraded to the version 5.6.4 which provides increased operating system support for the following operating systems:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Ubuntu 14.04
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
CentOS 6.5
CentOS 7
Oracle Linux 6.5
Oracle Linux 7

Furthermore, this release resolves several vCloud Director issues.

For further information please see VMware’s official release notes: https://www.vmware.com/support/vcd/doc/rel_notes_vcloud_director_564.html

Release 2.4.2 comes with a big change.

IP and bandwith are no longer bound together (only for Dynamic Data Center and not for Dynamic Server).

When adding an external public network to your DDC-Environment, you are now able to

separately select the amount of IP’s and bandwith you want.

The bandwith you chose will then be shared evenly amongst all the IP’s you have assigned to your Data Center.

Note: This new feature comes also with new price details for both IP’s and bandwith.

But those only affect new customers and customers that switch profiles.

SilvanH

Release 2.5.1 has been implemented successfully. The Dynamic Computing Services Team is pleased to inform you that the features listed below are now available:

These are your benefits of the Release 2.5.1:

Provider Managed Services - let Swisscom handle your VMs
Ultra Fast Storage for Dynamic Server - now available
Docker Template – Now available in the Service Catalog

Provider Managed Services

Usually you administer your virtual servers by yourself. On request, partial services (Limited Management) can be rendered by Swisscom. You maintain your administrative rights in any case.

Limited Management includes the following services (without incidents & troubleshooting): Monitoring of system-relevant parameters such as vCore (vCPU) memory load and the storage limit, anti-virus protection, potential operating system and security updates in accordance with the requirements of the provider. You will be informed by e-mail if any monitoring threshold is breached.

You can order Limited Provider Managed Services for Dynamic Servers, as well as for VMs running in a Dynamic Data Center (DDC). In a DDC only entire vApps can be handed over to Swisscom for Limited Provider Management. This ensures clear separation between customer and provider managed VMs. As part of the hand over process to Limited Provider Management a compliance check must be successfully passed. Otherwise the handover process cannot be completed. You will be informed by e-mail about the results of the compliance check.

Ultra Fast Storage for Dynamic Server

With this release Swisscom introduces Ultra Fast Storage for Dynamic Servers. You can choose whether to use this high performance storage based on SSD discs or the standard Fast Storage in the ordering process of a new Dynamic Server. In addition, you can change the storage tier for existing Dynamic Servers, too. Simply select the action “modify server” in the DCS portal. In the second step, select the storage tier you would like to use. Both storage tiers are available with or without snapshots.

Docker

Docker is an open platform for developers and sysadmins to build, ship, and run distributed applications. Docker enables apps to be quickly assembled from components and eliminates the friction between development, QA, and production environments. As a result, IT can ship faster and run the same app, unchanged, on laptops, and data center VMs. Please see this link if you are interested in learning more about Docker.

Please find further details about the features described above in the revised DCS User Guide which is published in the section of the DCS Portal.

RomanM

Release 2.6.1 has been implemented successfully. The Dynamic Computing Services Team is pleased to inform you that the features listed below are now available:

These are your benefits of the Release 2.6.1:

Lower prices
“Pay as you go” as new allocation model for DDC
Extended backup capabilities

Lower Prices

Compute Units, Storage and Memory will be reduced by up to 38%.

All resources are now charged per hour instead of per day.

(due to changes in production outlay, Linux license prices had to be adjusted in line with the market.)

Pay as you go

Compute power is only charged if a VM is running (CU / RAM).
No resource pool sizing required.
Fix performance class per vCPU.

When ordering a DDC using this model, you can choose the number of CUs to be definitely assigned to a vCPU. You can opt for performance classes including 6, 12, 18 or 24 CUs per vCPU, which corresponds to 0.6, 1.2, 1.8 and 2.4 GHz per vCPU. Concerning the other parameters, memory and storage, you only define upper limits for each DDC.

With the “Pay-as-you-go” model costs for compute power and storage incur only after VMs have been created and started up. This means that, once a VM has been started, costs are based on effective system configuration at that point in time. The system bills only the number of CUs and the memory size and storage based on your selection of the vCPU performance class for each VM. If a VM is stopped, the cost share for compute power (CPU power and memory) is no longer incurred. Costs per unit of the resources (e.g. for 1 CU or 1 GB RAM) are the same as for the allocation model.

The “Pay-as-you-go” model is recommended for agile workloads with a high weight on performance (e.g. terminal servers).

Due to technical limitations with VMware, you cannot switch the selected resource allocation model for created DDCs at a later date.

Extended Backup

Single File Restore from Snapshot.
Self Restore option for backups.
*(both points are only included with the option “storage with snapshot”)*

This release includes an enhanced version of the “Storage with snapshot” function. It also features an option that allows you to restore a snapshot by yourself via the DCS portal. To recover data for VMs that use “Storage with snapshot”, you can now easily select the daily backups that are stored for 30 days and recover the data yourself within minutes.

Furthermore, the “Storage with snapshot” feature now includes the Single File Restore option. Additionally electing this advanced function allows for complete recovery of all data disks for a virtual server, as well as a simple and extremely granular single file restore. In addition to the daily backups, hourly snapshots of the last two days remain available for the purposes of data recovery. Swisscom does not require access to the data and you do not need to create authorizations in the portal system. To restore single files, Swisscom simply adds a clone of the disks from your chosen snapshot time for the respective VM. Thus, you are able to use your own basic system functions (e.g. Windows Explorer) to easily copy files from the backup data clone disk to the current data disk. The backup clone disks remain available for 8 hours.

The Single File Restore option can be ordered for existing Dynamic Data Centers and Dynamic Servers. The option can then be deselected again at a later date. Please find the details about pricing for the different storage tiers in the attached “Services and Charges” document.

Please find further details about the features described above in the revised DCS User Guide and Design Guide, which are both published in the relevant section of the DCS Portal.